How Smoking Harms Your Nervous System

Smoking is, and has for a long time, been known as a dangerous and deadly habit. In fact, anti-smoking public campaigns have been promoted and done for close to a century at this point, with virtually no one left unaware of the main dangers of smoking, such as the increased risk of heart attack and lung cancer that smoking leads to, among others.

But what about the lesser known negative health effects of smoking cigarettes, and tobacco in general? As mentioned earlier, most people do indeed know that smoking can harm your heart and lungs, even to the point of causing an untimely death, but how many people are aware that smoking can also affect your eyes, your sense of smell and taste, and even your mind?

In this article, we will talk about how smoking harms your nervous system, and how this can be far more dangerous than one might think at first thought. First, however, we’ll take a brief look at the human nervous system.

A Brief Overview Of The Nervous System

The human nervous system is incredibly complex, and it would take far more than an article to fully describe its inner and outer working, so, for the purposes of this article, briefly going over it will have to do.

The human nervous system is split into two categories: the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). In order to understand how smoking harms your nervous system, we need to understand how both parts of it work.

The central nervous system is composed of the brain and the spinal cord, with the brain being in turn composed of the following:

• The Cerebrum - The largest part of the brain, and divided into two hemispheres which control opposite sides of the body, is responsible for higher brain functions, such as processing sensory information, thoughts, and ordering the body to take action

• The Cerebellum - Located under the Cerebrum, this part of the brain is responsible for fine muscle control, coordination and balance.

• The Brainstem - The point of connection between the spinal cord and the rest of the brain, it is responsible for the control of automatic functions such as heartbeat, breathing and regulating blood pressure.

The spinal cord runs all the way from the Brainstem down through the vertebral column, and is responsible for automatic reflex control, as well as transmitting information between the brain and the rest of the body, and vice versa. It is, in a sense, a highway of information for our brains and bodies.

The PNS, on the other hand, is also composed of two main parts: the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.

The somatic nervous system is responsible for controlling voluntary movements and transmitting information to the CNS. It does so through sensory neurons, which transmit sensory information to the CNS, and motor neurons, which receive information from the CNS to produce movement in muscles.

The autonomic nervous system is responsible for regulating involuntary/automatic body functions, including the heart rate, breathing rate and digestion, among others. It is, in turn, also composed of two main parts, namely:

• Sympathetic nervous system - This system is responsible for preparing the body for dangerous situations via the fight or flight response, which dilates airways, inhibits digestions and increases the heart rate.

• Parasympathetic nervous system - This system is responsible for preserving the body’s energy by bringing the body back into a restful, at-ease state after stressful situations, by bringing the automatic body functions back to normal parameters.

Now that we have a better understanding of the human nervous system, let’s take a look at how smoking harms your nervous system.

How Smoking Harms Your Nervous System

First of all, nicotine’s immediate effects pose a significant risk to the nervous system. Nicotine triggers the release of dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with the feelings of pleasure and reward, and can trigger mental health disorders due to the disruption of normal dopamine regulation.

Nicotine also affects other neurotransmitters’ balance, for example serotonin, which can lead to altered moods, arousal levels and responses to stress.

In addition to nicotine, long term exposure to some of the toxic chemicals commonly found in cigarettes, such as carbon monoxide, arsenic and formaldehyde (all of which are neurotoxic, meaning they are toxic to nerve cells) can damage the nerve cells and lead to many issues in the nervous system, including slower reflexes, lowered sensory abilities, and more.

Smoking can also reduce blood flow to the brain, which can cause a decline in cognitive function, and even brain damage and stroke. Smoking can also trigger inflammation in the neurons, leading to an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases developing in smokers, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Smoking can also lead to the death of CNS as well as PNS cells, including in the brain, the spine, the eyes, the limbs and pretty much all throughout the body, as a result of decreased blood flow.

Some of the cells are never able to regenerate, particularly CNS cells. In the case of PNS nerves which may regenerate, the regeneration process is slowed down by smoking, which can lead to longer recovery times after injuries, and increased risk of ending up suffering from chronic pain.

Smoking can also increase one’s odds of developing other serious neurodegenerative illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis and some forms of dementia. The former often results in paralysis as the nervous system is no longer able to properly transmit information between the brain and body, and vice-versa.

Conclusion

While smoking most often kills through harming the heart or the lungs, or both, damage to the nervous system in smokers may also lead to an untimely death, along with a decrease in quality of life as a result of damage to the nervous system.

It is important to be aware of all of these facts, and make good decisions for our health, so that we may enjoy long as well as more enjoyable, healthy lives. One such decision would be to quit smoking, and there are some very good methods to do so.

Thank you for reading this article, and until next time, I wish you the best. Take care.